Tommy’s War: A First World War Diary 1913–1918. Andrew Marr

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Went to library tonight for my usual volume of sermons.¹⁴

       Friday, 17 January

Lifted the room carpet tonight and the waxcloth around thereof.¹⁵ Agnes did a big ironing.

       Tuesday, 21 January

Agnes met me at 170 Ingram Street¹⁶ and we went to Brig’ton.¹⁷ Sam and Nellie and the weans¹⁸ there. Got home at 11.40. Got the keys to our new house in the letter box.

      Thomas and his family – and indeed everyone in the United Kingdom until 14 February 1971 – used a monetary system based on pounds, shillings and pence. A pound was worth 20 shillings, and a shilling or ‘bob’ was worth 12 pence. The sum of one pound, three shillings and sixpence was written as £1 3s 6d, with the letters ‘s’ and ‘d’ derived from Latin. Sums of money were also given in shillings, with a ‘solidus’ (forward slash) after the number of shillings, such as 3/6 (three shillings and sixpence) or 30/- (thirty shillings, with the hyphen used to indicate that there were no pennies).

      Thomas’ wallet and Agnes’ purse would have held farthings (there were four farthings to a penny), half-pennies, pennies, three-penny bits, sixpences or ‘tanners’, shillings, florins (two-shilling pieces) and half-crowns (worth 2/6). They would also have notes valued at 10/- and £1 and, on rare occasions, £5 and £10. In broad terms, we can multiply any prices mentioned by Thomas by 83 to arrive at a modern equivalent.

       Wednesday, 22 January

Took a turn up to our new house in the morning. Mr Gordon up at night and fitted up kitchen and room gas in our new mansion.¹⁹ All the Ibrox crowd up. Mr McCort did the whitewashing for 30 pennies.²⁰ Bought three new mantles for 9 pence. Heavy snow at night.

       Thursday, 23 January

Got away today at 11 a.m. to flit myself and family. Called in at Bow’s Emporium²¹ and arranged for a man to fit in the room grate. Went up to the new house in afternoon and whitewashed the kitchen press and bunker. The flitting starts tonight. To help we had Sam and Donald, Mr McCort, Mrs and Miss Gordon and Josephine.²² We ceased operations at 10.30 and had supper.

       Friday, 24 January

      Putrid wet day. Man came up and fitted in room grate. It was a hard job and he lost his chisel, so Agnes gave him a ‘tanner’. Cost of grate fitted in was 4/6. The piano was removed for 4/-. The plaster men [came] in the morning. Man up to measure us for a gas stove. Agnes got a gas stove from her aunt.

       Saturday, 25 January

      Agnes at the painter in the forenoon arranging about our kitchen. Went up to the old house in the afternoon and took off the Yale lock, name plate and letter box. Man here sorting the kitchen gas. At night whitewashed ceiling and walls of the closet and put up the kitchen pulley.

       Saturday, 1 March

Out at the Barrows²³ before tea and bought an awl and a wee wally bow-wow²⁴ for the cherub.

       Wednesday, 12 March

Today’s advertisement: ‘Children’s Fancy Dress Ball. Mr J. B. McEwen’s Juvenile Pupils, St Andrew’s Halls, Granville St, at 5p.m. Carriages at 9.30 p.m. Spectators’ tickets 1/6. Tickets to be had at 29 St Vincent Crescent.’²⁵ I did not manage to the above.

       Monday, 24 March

      ‘Men must either be the slaves of duty or of force.’ (Or the wife.)

       Tuesday, 25 March

      Was at library at night for my usual good moral book.

       Monday, 14 April

Cold, wet day. National strike started in Belgium today.²⁶ King of Spain shot at yesterday.²⁷ He was not hurt.

       Wednesday, 16 April

      Got a note from the factor. Cuss him that the rent is raised 22/- in the year. Now we’ll starve.

       Monday, 21 April

Telephoned the factor about the rent and found to my delirious joy it was only advanced 4/- in the year, to wit £3 15s 3d per quarter.²⁸

       Friday, 25 April

Fresh sort of day. National strike in Belgium fizzled out. Agnes still got toothache. Poor Agnes. Her bottom teeth are up the pole.²⁹

       Saturday, 26 April

Very cold and windy. Wet. In the afternoon I went to the Stirling’s Library³⁰ and on my way back saw the start of the Great Territorial March Out. I went into a doorway and saw it all. Rain coming down in buckets. Poor ‘sojers’. They were wet.

       Monday, 5 May

Lord ‘Bobs’ in Glasgow today to make us all ‘sojers’.³¹

       Wednesday, 7 May

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